Philadelphia Research Initiative

Pew’s non-partisan “State of the City” research highlights the essential facts about Philadelphia, its residents, neighborhoods, and major issues. From demographics, to culture and government, to residents’ opinions, “State of the City” is a data-dashboard for the benefit of both the public and leaders who are driving the city’s future.

Recent Work

Philadelphia had the second-highest rate of drug overdose deaths in 2016 among the nation’s 44 counties with over 1 million residents: 46 per 100,000 residents, with most attributed to the misuse of opioids. Only Allegheny County, which includes the city of Pittsburgh, had a higher rate. Read More

Our recent report on Philadelphia poverty, “Philadelphia’s Poor: Who They Are, Where They Live, and How That Has Changed,” found that about 60 percent of the city’s 372 residential census tracts had a poverty rate of at least 20 percent in 2016. Even so, there is more economic diversity in many of Philadelphia’s neighborhoods than that sobering statistic might... Read More

The types of jobs available in the Philadelphia region—and the locations of those jobs—have shifted over the past 40 years as the city’s poverty rate has increased, according to a recent report by The Pew Charitable Trusts. Read More

About The Pew Charitable Trusts

The Pew Charitable Trusts is driven by the power of knowledge to solve today's most challenging problems. Pew applies a rigorous, analytical approach to improve public policy, inform the public and invigorate civic life.

Trust Magazine

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